Reclaiming the winter city: activating public space through playful design in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Abstract:

Winter presents a number of barriers that discourage urban residents from spending time outdoors, with detrimental implications for physical and mental health. This research explores the potential for playful, or ludic, design interventions to activate public space in winter cities as a means to encourage outdoor physical and social recreation. Using Winnipeg's Red River Mutual Trail as a case study, and the design interventions known locally as “Warming Huts,” this practicum identifies playful design elements and examines their success at inspiring playful behaviour and generating pedestrian activity. First-hand data collected through naturalistic observation techniques and secondary academic and contextual data inform this study. Synthesis of these materials includes a review of the relevant academic literature; investigation of local demographics, land use, and planning context; statistical analysis of pedestrian count trends and weather data; tracing and behavioural mapping analysis using a framework of activation metrics; and the application of a ludic design typology. Finally, lessons drawn from the analysis of the Red River Mutual Trail are used to create a set of recommendations and strategies for winter cities to help guide planning and implementation of public space initiatives in the future or improve upon existing ones.